Benidorm adheres to the Diputación energy agreement to obtain more advantageous rates

The plenary session of the City Council of Benidorm has approved today by way of urgency, with the vote in favour of the government team and the abstention of the opposition groups, the adhesion of the Consistory to the framework agreement for the supply of electricity of the Provincial Council of Alicante to obtain better rates. The Councilor for Public Space, José Ramón González de Zárate, has pointed out that, as stated in the proposal, "adherence is much more beneficial for this City Council than individually bidding for the contract", since "the volume of contracting for the entire province always means obtaining more advantageous rates”.

During the debate, De Zárate warned of the strong impact that the rise in energy prices is going to have on municipal coffers, in the same way, that "citizens and companies are suffering from it." In fact, he has advanced that in the next plenary session "a budgetary modification will have to be approved" to be able to face the increase in the cost of electricity and has transferred the data estimated by the municipal technicians.

Specifically, he has referred to a report from the Engineering area that estimates that in the last quarter of this year the City Council will have to pay 791,350.62 euros more for electricity consumption than in the same period of 2022. Specifically, the bill for the months of October, November and December 2021 amounted to 385,853.19 euros; compared to the 1,177,203.80 euros that are calculated for this year.

The mayor has stressed that "these increases could be much higher if we do not adhere to the Diputación framework agreement" and "if the City Council had not carried out energy efficiency actions and projects", such as those that are currently underway hand in hand with the IDAE.

In the same plenary session, the adhesion of Benidorm to the Network of Local Entities for the 2030 Agenda was unanimously approved, of which the local governments that "commit to localize and implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)" are part. marked by the UN as a "road map for the sustainability of people's lives from a social, cultural, economic and environmental perspective".

The spokesperson for the government team, Lourdes Caselles, has pointed out that Benidorm "is already applying the SDGs in many of the actions that we are developing"; and has added that this adhesion represents a further step in the "involvement" of the City Council, by adopting "the commitment" to prepare "a Local Action Plan or Strategy" that includes "an analysis of the situation" and a proposal "of location and implementation of the SDGs of the 2030 Agenda” that includes the actions to “continue landing” these 17 objectives.

Caselles has highlighted that Benidorm is an "example" of commitment to the SDGs, since "we assume them as our own in all the actions and actions to be developed and in development, even before the Network of Local Entities for the 2030 Agenda was formed".

In addition to the commitment to develop an Action Plan or Local Strategy, the proposal approved today includes the appointment of the mayor, Toni Pérez, as the political representative of Benidorm in this Network, and the Engineering Department as a technical representative.

With the vote in favour of the entire Corporation, it has been agreed to award the 'City of Benidorm' Tourism Awards to RTVE, Olvido Gara -Alaska- and Máximo Huerta, and Hotel Don Pancho, in the International, National and Local/Autonomous categories of these awards respectively. In addition, the president of the Hosbec hotel association and general director of the Port Hotels chain, Antonio Mayor, will receive the Special Mention of these awards, which will be delivered tomorrow, September 27, coinciding with International Tourism Day.

The proposal, transferred by the Board of Spokespersons, recognizes RTVE for "the international projection of Benidorm Fest through the Eurovision Song Contest 2022". Likewise, in the National category, it recognizes "the passion of Olvido and Máximo for Benidorm" and "their contribution to the national projection" of the city "through their public interventions and among their thousands of followers on social networks".

At the local level, it is awarded on the 50th anniversary of its opening to the Hotel Don Pancho, "one of the main hotels in the Valencian Community, holder of numerous awards from tour operators and public and private institutions". Finally, the "invaluable contribution" of Antonio Mayor "in the evolution and development of Tourism in Benidorm" is recognized.

Also unanimously, the plenary has ratified the proposal of the Board of Spokespersons to grant the cultural distinction 'Ciutat de Benidorm' to the artist José Mª Albero for his "brilliant and meritorious career in the world of plastic arts, linked to the city of Benidorm”. In this way, the Corporation endorses the proposal transferred by the technical commission in charge of this award, made up of the people and entities that have won in previous editions.

Throughout his career, as stated in the proposal approved today, Albero has obtained "numerous prizes in contests and events" and "has exhibited in the main cities of the province of Alicante and the Spanish territory". He has also had international projection by exhibiting his work in New York (1993) and Mexico City (2011). His, likewise, are most of the works that make up the gallery of mayors of the City Council.

In addition to his pictorial side, "his facet as a sculptor and muralist also stands out", being among his most outstanding works in Benidorm are the iron figures of the l'Aigüera bridge and those that make up the ethnographic museum, or the monument to the Armada Española Avenue; as well as his “role as a poster artist”.
Considered a "cultured man", "great conversationalist" and "multifaceted", Albero has "another of his great passions" in music, having been a percussionist with the Unión Musical and the Societat Musical La Nova de Benidorm. Along with painting and music, teaching is another of his vocations, which he continues to cultivate by collaborating as a painting teacher for local entities.

Albero will receive this 'Ciutat de Benidorm' distinction on October 9, during the institutional plenary session of the Valencian Community Day.
With a unanimous vote, the plenary has given the green light to the 'Self-regulation' of the 2023 Participatory Budget, previously approved by the Neighborhood Council. The Councilor for Citizen Participation, Ana Pellicer, explained that this document "articulates the participation of citizens and the collaboration between them and political representatives in the preparation and execution of the Participatory Budget."

Pellicer has pointed out that "in previous years, municipal management has allowed allocating more than 5% of the investment chapter of the municipal proposal to neighbourhood proposals and requests, exceeding the percentage established in the regulations." These resources, she added, "have made it possible to carry out projects and actions that have improved aspects such as the urban scene, accessibility or the services of each and every one of the neighbourhoods of Benidorm".

In urban matters, with the vote of the entire Corporation, the acquisition by mutual agreement of land necessary for the construction of the Discotecas road and the north access has been agreed upon. The councillor of Urbanism has explained that this acquisition has been set at "just over 13,500 euros", an amount included in the agreement signed with the property and that she has not received any allegations during the period of public exposure. Caselles has indicated that this acquisition has the approval of the Municipal Intervention.

Also in urban matters, the Interior Reform Plan (PRI) of the Port Benidorm hotel has been unanimously approved, which will increase its category from four stars to four superior stars, increasing the size of the rooms and their number from 250 to 406. The City Council will sign an urban planning agreement for which he will receive 598,798.44 euros as compensation that will be allocated to Municipal Land Heritage. "With this approval, we continue to bet on the renovation of the hotel plant by private developers, who at the same time renew the urban fabric in accordance with the guidelines set by the Department of Engineering" indicated Lourdes Caselles, Councilor for Urbanism.

With the votes of the government team and the Ciudadanos group and the abstention of the socialist group, the initial approval of the Monte Moralet Forest Management Technical Plan has gone ahead, a document that regulates the uses and infrastructure of this enclave for the coming decades. The Councilor for Public Space, José Ramón González de Zárate, has specified that this plan "allows us to continue improving this great green lung" and has advanced the placement of solar fire surveillance cameras, the creation of a perimeter firewall area, improvement of signalling, more hydrants, preparation of terraces, more recreational areas and creation of more trails.

"We also propose expanding the conservation of the area to carry out pruning and thinning work in order to reduce the risk of fires, as well as including the park in the catalogue of mountains of public utility of the Generalitat, and including the old route of the train in the catalogue of paths” pointed out the councillor, who has estimated the investment at more than one million euros and which could be completed before the end of the first half of next year. With these actions, he added, "we demonstrate that we are committed to environmental improvement and public use, which is an example of sustainable mobility and Benidorm's commitment to the SDGs."

The plenary has also unanimously agreed to initiate the procedure for granting distinctions and decorations by the Generalitat to the agents of the Benidorm Local Police, Jaime Ángel González, Juan Gabriel Casagrande, Álvaro Fuertes and Alejandro Andrés Sanchiz, as well as the agent of Alfaz del Pi, Jorge Martín for his intervention on August 11 for the arrest of a British citizen who attacked a local Benidorm policeman by car, fleeing and putting the integrity of the people at risk in his flight until being finally stopped in Alfaz del Pi.

The declaration of November 13 and 14, 2023 as local holidays has also been unanimously approved.